Need to Replace Laptop Battery - Anyone Know of Some Reputable Sites?

[Mark Farnik]

Hey gang,
After over 1 1/2 years of faithful service, the battery on my trusty Dell Inspirion E1505 laptop has finally gone over the hill. I can only run my laptop for about 10 minutes on the battery before it completely discharges, so it's time for a new battery.
I refuse to pay Dell's ridiculous $190 for a new OEM battery, so I was looking around, and I've found it ranging from $60 to $110 on various sites. But I don't know which sites are reputable and which aren't, and I don't want to hassle with a bad buying experience, especially where I start back to school next week and need to buy a new battery in the next couple of days.

If any of you know of cheap battery sites that you have had good luck with in the past and would recommend to me, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

Mark, I like BatteriesPlus. They may not be the lowest cost, but are not real bad either. They are in a lot of states if you ever have any problems with their batteries.
Here is the link for your computer:
http://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...nd-Chargers/306085-Dell/Inspiron-E1505/1.aspx

Doesn't list the price, but gives you the options to contact them or the closest store. They also got an Online $5.00 off laptop battery coupon.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Hey gang,
After over 1 1/2 years of faithful service, the battery on my trusty Dell Inspirion E1505 laptop has finally gone over the hill. I can only run my laptop for about 10 minutes on the battery before it completely discharges, so it's time for a new battery.
I refuse to pay Dell's ridiculous $190 for a new OEM battery, so I was looking around, and I've found it ranging from $60 to $110 on various sites. But I don't know which sites are reputable and which aren't, and I don't want to hassle with a bad buying experience, especially where I start back to school next week and need to buy a new battery in the next couple of days.

If any of you know of cheap battery sites that you have had good luck with in the past and would recommend to me, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I've had good luck using Ebay. Just pick a seller with really consistently good feedback, and only buy NEW batteries, never used, no matter how much the seller tries to flog the used battery as being just as good as a new. It's okay to buy non-OEM batteries; you'll usually get a much better deal this way. Ebay is pretty foolproof; if your battery is broken, getting a refund is almost gaurunteed, though you may have to ship the battery back to get it. I purchased a battery for my E1705 from a seller in Hong Kong; the battery is perfect and runs my 17 inch laptop for three plus hours, even though it's not OEM. Total cost was $69, shipping included.

 

[Jason Foster]

yes....stay away from used...even from the best of the best ebay sellers. My experience is that there is no way for them to test the battery unless they have a laptop of that model...or can do a load test. Those vendors don't spend that kind of time on each used battery...so most likely they are not going to hold a charge long enough to be useful.

 

[cdcollura]

Be very careful with buying laptop batteries.

On my Sony Vaio, I bought a spare battery on EBay for $47 (at Sony it was $170 at the time) and found that it took a charge, but when half way depleted the laptop just shuts off - No warning or nothing, just OFF.

The problem was identified to be the battery, which was said to be "Sony Compatible" but not "Sony Genuine" - Yes, ther'es a difference.

The battery was also 5500 Ah opposed to the 5000 Ah I was replacing. But there is a little PROPRIETARY chip built into these batteries that messes with the charging and status ciruits in the laptop - And is almost impossible to emulate / reverse engineer - especially Sony.

What does this mean? If you don't spend the extra $$$'s and buy a battery FROM the laptop manufacturer - and ONLY "the" manufacturer, you'll get a battery that you would be stuck with and sorry about.

As for my battery, I put the old one back in my laptop and the new ($47) one is in my closet sitting there.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

What does this mean? If you don't spend the extra $$$'s and buy a battery FROM the laptop manufacturer - and ONLY "the" manufacturer, you'll get a battery that you would be stuck with and sorry about.

While this is possible, it's far from certain. A great number of people use third party batteries in their laptops without issue, my self included. I wouldn't be suprised about Sony, though; Sony is well known for creating their own proprietary formats for EVERYTHING. Their first MP3 players couldn't even play MP3s -- they'd only play a Sony proprietary format that Sony invented (and nobody actually used). Sony wants to make sure that you don't just buy an item, but that everything you ever buy that touches the item is also bought from Sony.

At any rate, the great thing about Ebay is that if your battery goes belly up within 30 days, you get a refund (assuming you used Paypal). If it goes belly up within 90 days, you can do a chargeback on your credit card. I dunno, for a 70% discount from the OEM price, I like those odds!

 

[Jason Foster]

While this is possible, it's far from certain. A great number of people use third party batteries in their laptops without issue, my self included. I wouldn't be suprised about Sony, though; Sony is well known for creating their own proprietary formats for EVERYTHING.

Ryan and Chris are correct....Sony laptops should only use Sony Batteries. Yes, they are expensive, but that is the game Sony plays (anyone remember their memory sticks...arrggg. Anyhow. For anyone with Sony highly recommended to always be on the look out for "new" Sony batteries that are on sale....even if you don't need them at the moment.

Of course I should have made Chris buy my laptop battery being that it was his older laptop that fried mine.....just kidding Chris...no worries. Lightning sucks doesn't it.

 

[Mark Farnik]

I discovered Sony's fondness for proprietary formatting and took that into consideration when I was looking for a laptop back in the spring of 2007, which is why I have a Dell Inspiron and not a Sony Vaio .

I'm just going to snag one off of Ebay from a seller with excellent feedback, and also that offers a one year warranty, which a lot of them do - if for some reason I do get a dud and it goes bad within the next year, I can just send it back and they'll replace it for free.

Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

I used level8technology.com about a month ago. I bought 2 batteries for our HP laptops. Shipping was fast and prices were half that of what you would find in a regular stores.

 

[cdcollura]

Good afternoon,

Of course I should have made Chris buy my laptop battery being that it was his older laptop that fried mine.....just kidding Chris...no worries. Lightning sucks doesn't it.

LOL ... I remember that ... We tried your battery and it toasted every laptop's charging circuit you PUT IT into :-(

Above: The "actual" culprit (Near Russel, KS on May 17, 2004) - CG is hitting fence post 20 yards away to the far right!

Anyway ... Staying on the subject: Sony is very proprietary indeed. Even going to Radio Shack and buying a new $20 power supply won't work, you gotta spend $90 or more for SON'Ys unit ... 19.5 Volts is 19.5 Volts - Unless it's "Sony's version of 19.5 volts"!